Inspiration: Two Heroes to Admire and Emulate
September 25, 2007 by Lillie
Stephen Hopson recently posted a powerful video on his blog Adversity University. Read what Stephen has to say about the video or just watch it below. I guarantee you will be touched, inspired, and motivated by Stephen’s story and his tribute to the teacher who changed his life.
Stephen reminds me of one of my clients. Richard Turner, aka The Cheat, has been called “the greatest card mechanic in the world.” He amazes audiences around the world with his feats – and often they don’t even realize he is totally blind! You can be amazed and inspired by watching a short video about Richard.
Richard wasn’t satisfied with being a world-renowned performer, an in-demand motivational speaker, a Black Belt in karate, and the recipient of a list of honors and awards as long as your arm. So he decided to become a writer. You can read a sample of his novel Re-Deal: A Miss Guided Adventure, for which he is currently seeking publication, on his Web site.
Thank you, Stephen and Richard, for inspiring us all.
[tags]inspiration, motivation, Stephen Hopson, Richard Turner[/tags]
Having a type A personality and being an eternal optimist, I just literally love and live for a wonderful success story…any success story just thrills me no end. My old “Pappy”, the main mentor in my life, told me something long ago that I have NEVER in my almost 75 years forgot. In fact I remember it so clear, it is as if he told me this just yesterday. He said to me at about age 12, “Jackie,(I was “Jackie” in my family and still am) let me tell tell you somethin’ ‘boy’, and you never EVER forget it. The improbable you can do immediately and the impossible takes just a little bit longer” This is for sure the most important axiom my Father, Jack J Ammann, 1908-1961…may God bless his soul and that he Rest in Peace…ever conveyed to me.
“Mr. Lillie,”
I know how much you like success stories and how much you dislike the word “can’t”!
Thank you so much for sharing these stories. I was especially touched by Stephen’s story since I have a child who was profoundly deaf. My son died last year waiting on a liver/small bowel transplant, but during his time here, his deafness really brought to light the hardships and obstacles that deaf people have to face daily. What a neat story of overcoming a huge obstacle…I’m excited about sharing this with others…
Jenny,
My heart goes out to you on the loss of your son. No one close to me is deaf, but when I owned an interior landscape company, I hired a deaf worker through an agency that provided training for the hearing-impaired. I had so much trouble trying to teach her to water plants properly. Finally I figured out that I was subconsciously judging how much water was percolating through the soil by the sound. I didn’t even realize that I used my hearing to water plants until I encountered someone who couldn’t understand what I was teaching because she couldn’t hear the sound I took for granted.
That is pretty touching. I thrive off these success stories, as I was very poor when I was a child.
Environmental,
We all need inspiration and hope that we can succeed in spite of whatever obstacles we might face.
Lillie:
How wonderful to see this YouTube on your blog for your readers to watch and enjoy! Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it.
My dream is to make this story known to as many people as possible, especially teachers, to remind them that they do and can make a difference.
Stephen
Stephen,
I’m delighted to share the video. It’s a great reminder of what a difference teachers can make and a reminder that positive words from of any of us can make a difference that we may never know. Your teacher is blessed that you recognized and thanked her for what she did for you.
Lillie:
Guess what? We’re both on the computer this morning – I love that routine where I get up, make coffee and spend a few hours communicating with people on the Internet. It’s a lot of fun!
By the way, are you a professional editor? I wonder……
Stephen
Stephen,
We’re on opposite ends of the spectrum – you’re getting up early, and I haven’t gone to bed.
But we’re alike in loving to communicate on the Internet. I’m a night owl, which seems to be typical of editors.
Yes, I’m a professional editor. I edit everything from business documents to doctoral dissertations, but what I like best is working with aspiring authors. Many of my clients are self-publishing authors, and I edit their books and help them wind their way through the publishing maze.
Lillie:
Well, I’m a night owl too, but I go to bed at a reasonable hour. LOL.
How much do you charge to help with editing of a manuscript? How does this work? I’ve never used the service of a professional editor before so maybe you could guide me on the inner workings of such a relationship.
Stephen
Stephen,
You’ve given me an idea for a post. I think your question merits a longer answer than a comment, so I will write in more detail in a post next week.
In the meantime, I’ll e-mail you information on how I work. The same information is available on the “about” page as a PDF download so anyone interested can access it. There are two versions – one with my writing and editing services and a second that also includes other services I can provide authors who plan to self-publish their books.
Thank you for your interest. Your book sounds very interesting and inspiring.
My dream is to make this story known to as many people as possible, especially teachers, to remind them that they do and can make a difference.
Bowel (if you wrote YourName@Keywords, I could address you as a real person instead of a internal body part, and you would still get your keyword link),
I hope you do spread this inspiring story.
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